Jackie Kennedy’s Country Estate in Middleburg

Nov 6, 2013

The old Kennedy estate, Wexford, is for sale and you can have it for a cool $11 million. We came across this cool story on one of our favorite blogs, Curbed.

Naturally, in Ghosts of DC fashion, we wanted a little more historic information on the property, so we uncovered the following story in The Washington Post, printed on December 14th, 1963, less than a month after JFK was assassinated.

Mrs. John F. Kennedy has named her country home at Atoka, Va., Wexford in honor of the President’s sentimental attachment for his Irish forebears who came from County Wexford.

Mrs. Kennedy also decided to give her ranch-style retreat an Irish name because it has a growing menagerie of Irish animals.

Stabled there is the Irish pony given to 3-year-old John F. Kennedy Jr. by the Irish Prime Minister, Sean Lemass. The President could not hide his pleasure one day when John Jr.’s sister, Caroline, 6, named the pony Leprechaun.

Also at Atoka is the Irish wolfhound given to the Kennedy family last summer. Its name is Wolf.

Mrs. Kennedy plans to give Wexford an Irish motif by filling it with many of the mementoes her husband received on his journey to Ireland last June.

The President’s grandfather came from Dunganstown in County Wexford. The grandparents set out for the United States from New Ross, Ireland, 20 miles from Wexford.

Mr. Kennedy was proud of all things Irish. At his funeral, Mrs. Kennedy arranged that many of his favorite Irish airs, such as “The Boys From Wexford” and “Come Back to Erin,” be played outside the White House as the caisson left for St. Matthew’s Cathedral.

This weekend Mrs. Kennedy and her children will be at Atoka for the first time since the death of the President.

The house on Rattlesnake Ridge overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains came to be generally known to reporters as Rattlesnake Mountain. Mrs. Kennedy preferred at first that the house–which was completed last spring–be called Atoka.

At first Mr. Kennedy did not like the country house, which was attuned to the Virginia horse country. However, he grew to like it more and more, although he had only spent about four or five weekends there before his death.

Almost a year after JFK’s death, The Washington Post reported on the sale of the property. This was published on November 25th, 1964.

For Mrs. John F. kennedy, another tie to the past has been severed.

Wexford, the house she and the late President built in Virginia’s hunt country in 1962, has been sold to a young Harvard man. And, ironically enough, the Harvard man’s wife is named Jacqueline.

Quing Non Wong, who was born Dec 4, 1933 in Canton, China, saw the 39-acre property near Middleburg about a month ago. His small and pretty French-born wife was with him.

Since then, he has decided to buy the property and has made a down-payment on it. The sale figure is in the neighborhood of $225,000, it was learned. Settlement will be made sometime in mid-December in New York City, where Wongs investment company is located.

…

They do not expect to occupy the house before January.

Army One hovering over the country estate

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